


Buckles and Feathers

by Subtlety Lost (fishstic)



Series: I Found A Family In You [12]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Mostly Fluff, Multi, Scout Harding shows up, Wicked Grace, but she's not there for long, it's pretty much an ensamble story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-12
Updated: 2017-03-14
Packaged: 2018-10-03 06:47:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10238294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fishstic/pseuds/Subtlety%20Lost
Summary: It's not easy to surprise the Inquisition's Spymaster, but that doesn't mean Warden Commander Ella Cousland isn't going to try. It's a simple plan that Sage comes up with once Ella arrives. Step 1) wait in the tavern. Step 2) she brings Leliana. There is no step three, until Iron Bull suggests they play Wicked Grace.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GayWarden](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GayWarden/gifts).



> I wrote this for my girlfriend who is very understanding and I owe several thousand words of fic.

Skyhold was always busy, even when it wasn’t. There were almost constantly new visitors, new people to greet and new merchants with new wares to look at. Sometimes there were even new horses. A few months ago, the Inquisition had cemented an alliance with the rebel mages. Now they were often seen practicing out in the open, leaving soldiers and servants wary of ice and lighting and fire.

Sage longed to be allowed to join them, but Rose wouldn’t have it. It had stopped making sense to her a long time ago. There wasn’t any reason she should still have to hide. Still, she couldn’t go against what Rose had set as a rule for her, at least not that particular rule. The consequences would be too severe.

Still, despite not being allowed to practice her magic openly, there was plenty for her to do. Dorian and Madame Vivienne had developed a method of training for her that she could do in secret, without Rose knowing and Lady Josephine had set her up with a small but important task: greeting visitors.

That’s what she was doing when a cloaked figure approached. Sage was slightly confused, most of the travelers would have already removed their cloaks by the time they reached the gate, but this one hadn’t. _Are they an assassin? What should I do?_ She dropped the thought that the person was an assassin when a Mabari barked from behind them then ran off toward the stables. Then she wondered if perhaps it smelled Meiriana’s dog, Fluffy.

The person started to move like they were going to tell the dog to stay, but then just sighed and kept walking stopping shortly in front of Sage, and removed their hood. It was a woman, or at least someone that looked like a woman. She had brown hair and honey brown eyes, and a scar on the left side of her mouth. Sage had no idea who she was, the only thing she recognized was the griffon pin holding her cloak closed. It was the same kind of pin that Meiriana had once described to her, claiming it to be a mark of rank among the Wardens. This was a Warden-Commander, if Meiriana hadn’t been lying about that pin.

“Hello,” she managed to say, despite being intimidated by this woman that she didn’t recognize. “Welcome to Skyhold, Lady Warden-Commander. May I assist you in some way? Was that your dog? It’s a really handsome dog from what I saw.” At the very least, Lady Josephine would be very pleased that she was still diplomatic even when intimidated.

The woman smiled down at her. Sage hadn’t expected it to be so soft and gentle looking. Like she was used to dealing with children, or something that approximated working with children, such as working with frightened recruits perhaps. “Who might you be?”

Sage smiled. “I’m Sage,” she said then a moment of hesitation before she added. “I’m the Inquisitor’s sister.” She knew she was supposed to do that, tell people that’s who she was, even if she didn’t feel like she still belonged to Rose’s family, or want to for that matter. “Who are you? I mean, other than ‘Lady Warden-Commander?’”

“I see,” the woman said with a smile. “My name is Ella. Ella Cousland, Lady Sage. And, yes that was my dog, Maric. He probably smelled food.”

“I’m not a Lady. I’m just Sage,” she replied. “Wait, Cousland? You’re the spymaster’s wife!”

“Shhhh, not so loud, Sage,” Ella said quickly. “She isn’t expecting me and I’d rather keep it that way, hard to surprise someone if they know you’re coming.”

“Oh, I see, I’m sorry. So, I take it you’re not here to meet my—to meet the Inquisitor. That’s probably for the best, I don’t know that she’s actually here right now,” Sage said. She stared at Ella for a moment incredulously. “Leliana _not_ expecting a visitor? Not expecting _her wife_? This I have to see.”

“It _is_ possible to surprise the spymaster, you know,” Ella said.

“I’m… yes, yes, it is. Though I’ve never seen anyone actually do it. An assassin tried once, that’s an amusing story,” Sage said.

“I’m not sure I should ask,” Ella said.

“They weren’t trying to kill her, they were trying to kill our ambassador,” Sage said. “But, Leliana is smarter than the House of Repose.”

“I’m not sure where to begin, though,” Ella said. “See, I’m not even sure where Leliana is.”

Sage smiled, turned around and pointed up at the top of one of the towers where some birds were flying out from. “She’s up there. She spends most of her time in the rookery with Meiriana.”

“Meiriana’s here?” Ella said quietly.

“She’s been here for a while,” Sage said. “She’s been attempting to offer guidance and ‘warden advice’ to the Inquisitor, but I think Leliana and Lady Josephine and I have been the only ones that were actually listening. Commander Cullen called her… well I’m not sure what he did actually, but she punched him. That reminds me that it’s more likely Maric smelled Fluffy than food. Unless he eats horse food. If you really want to surprise them, I have an idea.”

“Them?” Ella asked.

“Yes, them. You want to surprise both of them, Leliana _and_ Meiriana, don’t you?” Sage asked. She looked around for a moment to see if any of Leliana’s scouts had been listening to them, but she was lucky and by now they’d all learned to ignore her when she was talking to anyone other than Rose, though she wasn’t quite sure why that was it served her well to be practically invisible to anyone not talking to her. “I have an idea how you can do that.”

Ella nodded. “It has to be better than my idea.”

“You had an idea?” Sage asked tilting her head slightly.

“No,” Ella said smiling. “That’s why yours has to be better. Honestly I didn’t think I’d get this far without being noticed.”

“Leliana’s been a bit busy,” Sage said. “First there was the whole thing with Orlais and the Winter Palace. Let me be the first to say, if you don’t play The Game, most of the Orlesian nobility are completely at a loss for how to deal with you. And if you’re a child but don’t fit into their ideal ‘nice, quiet, noble’ child ideal they just completely ignore you. Both things that make it pretty easy to gather blackmail and spy on them.”

She shrugged and motioned for Ella to follow her. She walked toward the steps that led up to the upper courtyard (but not the ones next to the gate). “And there’s the Orlesian Wardens, if I’m to understand this right, we don’t know where they are. Hawke’s warden friend, she said, had heard whisperings of corruption in the ranks. Varric says that Corypheus definitely qualifies as corruption in the ranks.”

“The Champion has a warden ally?” Ella asked.

“Put your hood back on, Scout Harding is likely to recognize you if she sees you,” Sage said. “Yes, I think considering she wants to protect Bethany and sent her away, it’s probably Stroud. The Warden who Joined Bethany. And there’s also the whole Corypheus thing.”

“Yeah, I can see how all of this would be keeping her fairly busy,” Ella said.

Sage stopped walking halfway to the tavern. “I’ll distract Scout Harding so you can go into the tavern without being noticed. I’d recommend waiting on the second floor. She’s Leliana’s top agent, I have no doubts she’d recognize you and ruin the surprise.”

“If she’s your friend, couldn’t you just ask her to ignore me?” Ella asked. “Wouldn’t that be easier?”

“Easier? Yes. As fun? No,” Sage said. “Humor me here, please? I have something to give her anyway.”

“Okay, Sage. Your plan, your rules,” Ella said encouragingly.

Sage grinned and walked over. She was as bouncy and happy as ever to be around Scout Harding. “Hey, Scout Harding,” she said as she got closer. She moved around to stand between Scout Harding and the steps leading up to the battlements, this was mostly so she wouldn’t be in the way of the tavern door. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course,” Scout Harding replied chipperly following Sage as she went. “What can I do for you?”

“So, you remember how the other day you were talking about not having enough maps?” Sage asked.

“I… vaguely remember this, yes, though I think I mentioned it to Sister Nightingale, not you,” Scout Harding replied.

 _Being invisible isn’t always nice, it seems._ “You might not have noticed me, but I was there too,” Sage said. “In the rookery, I mean. Anyways, I was thinking about that and well… I think I have something that might be of interest. See, I draw a lot, you know. And… I’m pretty good at drawing things from memory. So, I drew some maps, but you would know better than I how accurate they are.” It was obvious that she was nervous about mentioning this. She didn’t want Scout Harding to think she was being weird or a know-it-all or anything like that.

Scout Harding nodded, her eyes shining. “I’d love to see them, Sage. If they’re anything like that map of Redcliffe you showed me back in Haven, they’ll be exactly what I was looking for. Do you have them with you?”

Sage smiled, her relief that Scout Harding didn’t think of it as her being a know-it-all or anything similar evident on her face. “I do,” she said as she reached into her bag. There was a slight pause then she nodded slightly toward the steps, a discreet signal to Ella to go on and head into the tavern, a signal Ella recognized and followed. “Oh, but could we look at them over there on the steps, so I can lay them flat without getting dirt on them?”

“If it helps we could look at them inside the tavern? At one of the tables?” Scout Harding suggested. “I mean, I’m not against looking at them on the steps, but if the goal is to not get dirt on them, it seems like a table would be a better option.”

Sage chuckled nervously. “You know the Inquisitor doesn’t like me being in the tavern,” she said.

“That’s a bit of an understatement, isn’t it?” Scout Harding asked. “She doesn’t have to know. Maker knows I won’t tell her, Sister Nightingale wouldn’t be happy. Besides, she isn’t even here. She went to Crestwood to find the Champion’s Warden friend. I only just got back from there yesterday, myself.”

“I guess it’ll be okay, then.” She gave a small nod. She pulled out the maps to have them easier to access, but as she did so a note ‘accidentally’ fell out and fluttered to the ground.

Harding nodded and smiled. “Let’s go inside,” she said, then she noticed the note and picked it up. “Wait, Sage, you dropped this.”

Sage shifted the maps to her arm so she could take the note. It wasn’t an important note, a few days old, but it was perfect. “It’s nothing. The spymaster wanted me to come talk to her, is all.”

Scout Harding frowned. “You should probably go see what she wants. Keeping Sister Nightingale waiting isn’t a good idea. Let me look over the maps while you go see what she wants.”

Sage nodded. She looked down at the maps then handed them over to Scout Harding. “I trust you with them. You can look over them while I go. We can talk about them later, maybe tomorrow? I want to make sure you’ve had enough time to check them over, and maybe ask people who’ve been to places that maybe you haven’t about them?”

“That’s an excellent idea, Sage,” Scout Harding said with a smile. “Go on, don’t keep her waiting.”

Sage smiled back and nodded then started to walk away; she waited for Scout Harding to head inside the tavern then paused and counted to thirty. When that was done and she was sure that Scout Harding was well inside the tavern, she went around the side and found a couple of pebbles that she could throw up at Sera’s window. They wouldn’t do any permanent damage to the window, but even still she very decidedly didn’t actually aim to hit the windows.

“Sera! Sera! Sera! Seraaa!” She drew out the ‘a’ on the last one bouncing in place slightly until Sera came out onto the roof to see what was going on.

Sera looked around at the pebbles on the roof. Some of them were extremely pretty, strangely colored for Skyhold. “None of them reached the windows, Buckles. Did ya do that on purpose? I know you have a better arm than that.”

“Yes, Luv,” Sage said chipperly. “I need your help, Luv.”

“Oh, really?” Sera mused. “With something fun I hope.”

“It could be fun,” Sage replied. “I need you to entertain a woman in the tavern. The Warden-Commander of Ferelden. She’s wearing a black clock with a double griffon pin and has brown hair down to her shoulders, a scar across the left side of her mouth and eyes the color of honey.”

“That is a very distinct description,” Sera said. “How should I entertain her? Pranks can be entertaining.”

“I don’t really care as long as she doesn’t leave the tavern,” Sage said. “I just don’t want her to be bored while I’m getting the spymaster. So, do anything you want as long as it doesn’t get her kicked out. It might take a while to convince Leliana to come with me to the tavern.”

“This should be fun,” Sera said with smile. “Strong women are always fun.”

Sage grinned. “I’ll be back with Leliana… soon-ish.”

“We’ll be here.” Sera started to head back into her room, then stopped and turned back for a brief moment. “Oh, but if she’s a twat I’ll probably smack her.”

“Please don’t,” Sage said her tone half whining and half begging.

“No promises,” Sera said. “She _is_ a noble, but she probably isn’t a twat if the Spymaster fell in love with her.”

Sage nodded. “Just… try not to get into a fight with her. I’d rather like no fights today.”

Sera smiled and nodded. “For you, Buckles. No fighting. If she’s a twat though, I’ll put a lizard down the back of her shirt.”

Sage smiled, that was better than fighting at least in her eyes. She waved bye to Sera and then headed off to get Leliana.

\--

Ella watched Sage from where she’d been told to wait. Something about the girl bothered her, but she wasn’t quite sure what it was yet. Sage interacted with Scout Harding with such ease, interesting considering what Leliana had told her about how shy Sage could be. When Sage nodded discreetly, she took it as a signal and headed into the tavern.

She smiled slightly to herself. It was just like any other tavern, only somehow nicer. There was a woman standing beside the stairs who was singing a song about Empress Celene. Ella smiled inwardly, thinking about how much she loved Leliana’s singing. Maric would have liked to hear the lady sing, she thought, but he was just going to have to wait. She couldn’t separate him and Fluffy, though she did wonder why Fluffy was in the stables.

After a moment, she headed up the stairs to the second floor. She didn’t want to drink yet, though she was sure she could get away with it. It would probably be better if she waited. She took a seat at one of the tables on the second floor and waited, pondering what Leliana would look like after so many years apart.

She looked up when she heard footsteps. Sage couldn’t possibly be back so soon. The girl was a mage, not a miracle worker. She eyed the blonde elf that approached her with slight suspicion. The girl certainly didn’t look like she’d be one of Leliana’s agents, but that wasn’t saying much. All the best spies don’t actually look like spies.

“Right,” the girl said before Ella could ask who she was. “So, I’m Sera, and my girlfriend says I’m supposed to entertain you.” She smiled at Ella. “Don’t read nothing into that wording though, yeah? Or I’ll put a snake in your shirt. I’m supposed to distract you.”

Ella almost sighed in relief, or was it happiness? She hadn’t heard someone sound so deeply Ferelden in _years_. “Distract me?” she replied. “How do you plan to do that?”

“Well I could drop a lizard on the table, yeah? I have one of them in my room,” Sera said. “That’d distract ya, sure enough, but I think Buckles intended we talk.”

“Buckles?” Ella asked, tilting her head slightly. _What’s buckles got to do with anything?_

“Yeah, that’s my girlfriend,” Sera said. “She went to get _your_ girlfriend.”

“So… Buckles is Sage?” Ella asked. _Weird nickname, but I’ve heard worse._

Sera sat down in the chair across from Ella and leaned against the table for a moment. “Right, forgot you didn’t know that yet. Yeah, Buckles is Sage, but don’t tell her sister that. We’re not… exactly supposed to be talking to each other much less dating.” She paused a moment then added, “You know anything about the Inquisitor?”

“Only what Leliana has told me,” she replied, leaning against the table herself and tenting her fingers in front of her mouth. “If I’m honest, she sounds like a complete arsehole.”

Sera laughed. “I think I like you, Lady Warden-Commander.”

“My name’s Ella,” Ella said. “I just… I just mean I’d prefer if you called me Ella.”

Sera laughed more. “Don’t ruin it, Lady Warden-Commander. You’re a right good bit of muscle and feathers. I’d hate to stop liking you.”

“Feathers?” Ella asked. Muscle she could understand but unless there was something in her hair, she didn’t have any feathers.

“Ooh, good idea,” Sera exclaimed happily. “You’re Feathers now, because griffons, is that better Lady Warden-Commander?”

“It’s… different,” Ella said. “I think I like it.”

\--

It wasn’t exactly the best plan ever, Sage knew. Trying to surprise Leliana. She didn’t know a single person who had ever pulled it off. Still, it _was_ a plan. There wasn’t really much effort she could put into it herself; there was no reason she could think of that Leliana would come to the tavern with her other than Ella and it would ruin the surprise to tell her.

As she reached the top of the stairs to the rookery, she shivered. The rookery was one of her least favorite places to be, even if it _was_ one of the places she was most often and had one of her favorite people in it nearly constantly. She hated being up so far off the ground, and hated that the openings the ravens flew in and out of made it so incredibly cold all the time, even when she wore gloves and a coat. This was where she needed to be at the moment, even if she was wishing that she could have found Leliana in Lady Josephine’s office where it was always warm.

Leliana was sitting at her desk, and the little Dalish companion of hers, Meiriana, was standing by the banister talking to the birds about where they needed to deliver some message to.

Sage took a deep breath, one of the things she’d not yet learned was how to properly approach the spymaster with a request for anything. So, in lieu of actually asking, she shuffled up to the desk a little awkwardly, still thinking about how to ask. She was so lost in the thoughts that she almost didn’t notice when Leliana addressed her, almost.

“Sage,” Leliana said gently. “Are you okay?”

She jumped slightly, not having expected being addressed so soon. “Yes, mom.”

Leliana sat the report she was reading over on her desk and motioned for Sage to come over to her, holding out her arms as she did so to indicate that a hug was available if Sage wanted one. Sage smiled slightly and walked around the desk, happy to let Leliana hug her.

“I’m fairly certain,” Leliana said when Sage pulled away from the hug, her hands resting gently on Sage’s arms, “that my desk doesn’t have the answer to whatever question is on your mind.” She smiled slightly and touched a gloved finger to the tip of Sage’s nose causing Sage to giggle. “But I do.”

“I don’t know how to ask, though,” Sage said. “I mean, what if you say no?”

“Must be important if you’re worried that I’ll say no,” Leliana mused. “Either that or you want me to take you to Val Royeaux again.”

“I just want you to come to the tavern with me,” Sage said. “Please?”

Leliana closed her eyes for a moment, seeming to consider why that could be important enough that she wouldn’t just ask Varric or Dorian. When she opened them, she asked, “What’s in the tavern?”

“Well, us if we go there,” Sage said not wanting to lie but also not wanting to ruin the surprise.

“Sage, are you and Sera _planning something?_ ” Leliana asked.

Sage shook her head nervously. "Not me and Sera, no," she said. "Please, just come to the tavern with me?"

Leliana blinked and stood up, pushing her chair back slightly. “Okay, then. You’ve piqued my curiosity, Sage.”

“Wait you mean you’ll come with me?” The shock must have been evident in her voice because Leliana looked slightly offended.

“Of course, Sage,” Leliana said, putting a gentle hand on Sage’s shoulder. “I never planned on not coming with you, I just prefer to know why I’m going somewhere. Certain reasons for going places can be better served by going other places, for example: if you wanted me to have lunch with you at the tavern, lunch would taste much better with Josie, don’t you think?”

“Oh, well I guess that’s true,” Sage said. “But this _has_ to be done at the tavern. For… reasons.”

Meiriana chuckled from the balcony. “It almost sounds like trying to convince someone to come to a surprise party. Whose nameday are we forgetting?”

“No one’s,” Sage said. “Unless I’m forgetting one too.” She sighed and looked down for a moment.

“It’s okay, Sage,” Leliana said quickly. “I can tell this is really important to you. We’ll come to the tavern with you. No more questions asked.”

Sage nodded. “Thanks, mom.”

\--

“Okay, Feathers,” Sera said. “I’m bored and it’s taking Buckles longer than I thought to get your girlfriend. So, I’m going to introduce you to some of the spymaster’s friends. Well probably only one, I think the Inquisitor took Cassandra with her.”

Ella smiled slightly. _This should be good._ “I could do that. It’s not like I have anything better to do at the moment.”

“Nice,” Sera said. “Wait here and I’ll get Iron Bull.”

Ella started to say something but Sera was already out of her chair and leaving. _Who’s Iron Bull?_

After a few moments, Sera returned with a Qunari following her. He was tall; well, all Qunari are tall, but he was even taller than Sten and had horns that reminded Ella of the High Dragon they fought near the Temple of Sacred Ashes so many years ago.

“This is Iron Bull,” Sera announced happily.

“Actually, it’s _The_ Iron Bull,” Iron Bull said. “I like having the article in front of it.”

“You’re bigger than other Qunari I’ve met,” Ella said. Sera snickered slightly and Ella added with a sigh, “I didn’t mean it like _that_.”

“Yeah, I’d heard you’d worked with a Sten during the Blight,” Iron Bull said. “Red told me about some of it. It’s not often that someone will meet a hornless Qunari outside of Seheron or Par Vollen, but it does happen. Heard his report on the events of the Blight were invaluable.”

“A Sten? You mean ‘Sten’ wasn’t just his name?” Ella asked.

“We don’t _have_ names under the Qun. Mostly we just go by our job titles, makes things easier,” Iron Bull replied. “He was a Sten. A warrior.”

“And you?” Ella asked.

“I work for the Ben Hassrath. My ‘official’ name is Hissrad, but I got to pick the name The Iron Bull for my assignment pretending to be a Tal-Vashoth mercenary to gather intelligence on the South.” Iron Bull shrugged.

“What does Hissrad mean?” Ella asked.

Sera was lounging back in her chair. She seemed to still be bored but unwilling to interrupt yet. Like she was waiting for an opportunity to say something.

“It means ‘one who creates illusions’,” Iron Bull said.

“So, a fancy way of saying ‘spy’ or ‘liar’, something like that? Assuming you’re not a mage, I mean. I think I like your version better,” Ella said.

“We should have some drinks,” Sera said. “Not that there’s anything wrong with all this learning, but it’s not a party if no one is drunk.”

“I’m always up for drinks,” Iron Bull said. “Who’s paying?”

“Don’t look at me, I don’t have money, but if you distract the bartender, no one needs to pay,” Sera replied her eyes twinkling.

“I could pay,” Ella said. That was one thing about being a noble that was good. She could always afford to buy drinks.

“I don’t think you can afford enough drinks to get me drunk,” Iron Bull said.

“If I can afford to get me drunk, I can afford to get you drunk,” Ella said her tone saying everything. She was positive no one in Thedas could outdrink her. (Despite the fact that Meiriana had on occasion done just that.)

“You think you can outdrink me?” Iron Bull asked with a laugh. “This I have to see.”

“Let’s go get the drinks then,” Sera said. “Just give us the money. I think Buckles didn’t want you leaving here?”

“She suggested I wait on the second floor, yes,” Ella said. She pulled a couple coins out of her pocket and handed them to Sera. “If we’re going to make it a party, we should make it a good one.”

Sera grinned and stood up. “Come on, Bull. We’ll get the good stuff. You definitely know what that is.”

“Absolutely,” Iron Bull said. “We’ll be right back, Griffon.”

“Does _everyone_ here give nicknames?” Ella asked.

“Only to people we like,” Iron Bull chuckled.

Ella watched them head down to the lower floor, only slightly intrigued by how many odd friends Leliana and Meiriana managed to constantly find.

\--

Sage entered the tavern holding Leliana’s hand, on the off chance that anyone who actually liked and talked to her sister saw they’d assume that Leliana had brought Sage there and it wasn’t her idea. At least that’s what she hoped would happen. As they walked in she saw Sera and Iron Bull walk away from the bar with a couple drinks in their hands. They were laughing.

“The look on his face,” Sera laughed. “Like he thought I was gonna rob him. I like that look.”

“You _were_ planning on stealing the drinks before…” he trailed off then noticing Sage and the others. “Haha, Red! Good of you to join us! We’re going to have a party. Glad you could make it.”

“Sage, is this why you wanted us here?” Leliana asked quietly and when Sage shrugged she replied, “I wouldn’t miss it, Bull.”

“It’s on the second floor,” he said. “I’ll get more drinks. We can never have enough drinks. Here, Sera you and your girlfriend can take these ones up there already, right?”

“Pfft, of course we can,” Sera said as Sage came forward and took the drinks from him.

Sage smiled up at him, relief in her eyes that she wouldn’t have to think up some weird excuse for why Leliana needed to be on the second floor.

He smiled back. “What do you want, Little? Milk, water, tea? If you want tea, we might need to get the Ambassador.”

“Milk will be fine,” Sage replied. She nodded slightly and started up the stairs, knowing that Leliana and Meiriana were following, as was Sera. She hoped this wouldn’t go too badly. It would be a shame if it did. Meiriana and Leliana were whispering behind them but at the top of the stairs they went silent.

Ella was standing now. She’d gotten up before they’d even reached the top. She was standing with her arms open, inviting a hug, her cloak was open enough that Sage could see that she was wearing a shirt of chainmail, cloth breeches of some kind, and black leather boots.

Sage turned to see why Meiriana and Leliana had gone silent, hoping that it was a good kind of silent. They were both staring at Ella like they had just seen a ghost. She started to say something about how it was a surprise not a ghost, but before she could Leliana slipped past her without a word, running over and tackling Ella in a fierce hug. Sage grinned, then wondered why Meiriana hesitated in joining them.

“Mon Coeur it’s been too long,” Leliana said as she hugged Ella. After a moment of Ella returning the hug fiercely, she stepped back and motioned to Sage. “Don’t be alarmed, my love, but I might have adopted a child.”

Sage bit her lip and smiled shyly. A nervous smile, one that showed that she was unsure what to make of that statement. Leliana was her new mom, as far as she was concerned, but she wasn’t sure that that applied to Ella. Ella was not her mom; Ella might not even want to be her mom. The best thing she could do was just hope that Ella wouldn’t treat her badly.

Ella didn’t reply to that statement. That really didn’t help Sage feel any better about Leliana having made it. She turned when she heard Iron Bull coming up the stairs.

“Little, you just going to stand there or is this going to be a party?” he asked as he reached the top. She motioned toward Ella and Leliana and Meiriana, who had walked over to join them when Leliana had stopped hugging Ella. He smiled to himself. “Eh, maybe we should give them a little space. Just for a bit? Time enough to gather everyone for a game of Wicked Grace. That’s when the real party can start.”

“Everyone?” Sage asked.

“You know, the ambassador, Varric, Dorian… whoever else is here,” he replied with a shrug.

“Krem?” Sage suggested. She kind of liked Krem, he was different than a lot of the other men she’d met. Nicer, and with better hair. Still, he was a guy and she would never, so they’d always just be friends.

“You still like him?” he asked and when she nodded added, “Krem isn’t here, he and some of the others went to gather what they could from the remains of Haven.”

Sage nodded, slightly disappointed. She’d bet actual money (that she doesn’t have) that she could beat him at Wicked Grace (ignoring the fact that she doesn’t even know how to play).

“Don’t be disappointed, Little. I’m sure Krem will play you some other time,” Iron Bull said with a small smile. “Hey, Red, you and your girlfriends up for a game of Wicked Grace in a bit?” he added as he walked over to the table that they were standing next to and sat the drinks on it, Sage and Sera following suit mostly so they wouldn’t have to hold them anymore either. Sage took the mug of milk though, she was thirsty.

“And here I was thinking I’d get to outdrink you,” Ella laughed. “But I suppose Wicked Grace could add an extra level of fun to that. Leliana, love, I didn’t know you had such interesting friends here. Makes it almost sad to be doing Warden-Commander things all alone at Vigil’s Keep.”

“Alone?” Meiriana asked, it was the first she’d actually spoken to Ella the whole time. Sage could almost swear she heard regret on her voice with that. “But… I thought… what happened to everyone else?”

“It’s a long story, Meiri,” Ella said seeming to be surprised by Meiriana’s words. “Some of it you already know. I’m just glad to be here now. Telling you about it can wait. For now, I just—“

Leliana kissed Ella’s cheek then, leaving the Warden-Commander blushing and her sentence unfinished. “Bring the others,” she said to Iron Bull. “We’ll have a wonderful time. Who knows maybe one of my _wives_ will even beat Josie.”

“I doubt that,” Meiriana said. “I can feel her emotions and even _I_ couldn’t tell when she was bluffing.”

Iron Bull grinned. “Try not to let your wives drink all the drinks while we’re gone.” He put a hand on Sera shoulder gently and looked at Sage for permission before doing the same to her. “Let’s go see if we can get this game to actually be a thing.”

Sage nodded and took Sera’s hand to follow Iron Bull as he headed back down to the lower floor. “So, who should we convince first?” she asked as they left the tavern.

“Well,” Iron Bull replied. “Varric has the cards.”

“So, we have to ask him first?” Sage guessed.

“You got it, Little,” he chuckled.

They walked together, the three of them presenting a rather odd looking group, up the stairs and into the main hall where Varric was sitting, like usual, at the table by the fireplace just inside the door.

“Varric,” Sage said chipperly, letting go of Sera’s hand and walking over to him quickly, she bounced on her feet slightly as she stood by his table. “Wanna play Wicked Grace?”

Varric looked up and smiled at her. “You know, Sprinkles, I’ve always wondered why you don’t normally join us when we play.”

“Maybe ‘cause I don’t know when you play?” Sage suggested.

“I suppose that would do it,” Varric chuckled. “So, who are we playing with? The Inquisitor took Blackwall, Cassandra and Solas with her to Crestwood.”

“Everyone but them, I’d say,” Sage replied. “Dorian’s still here, right? We can play with him. Ooh, maybe Madame Vivienne will join us!”

“That would take a miracle, Sprinkles,” Varric said.

Sage bit her lip and then nodded. She was sure that she could get Vivienne to join them, though she wasn’t sure how she’d do that. “Let’s go get Dorian!”

“I could get him,” Iron Bull said. “While you get the ambassador.”

Sage nodded though she was entirely unsure why Iron Bull would volunteer to get Dorian. “I’ll go ask Madame Vivienne if she’ll join us.”

Varric shook his head slightly, “I’m telling you, Sprinkles, she won’t do it.”

“That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t ask,” Sage said as Iron Bull headed off to go get Dorian. “We won’t know if we don’t even try, right?”

\--

Ella smiled slightly as Sage and Sera and Iron Bull left her and Meiriana and Leliana alone. She looked over at the drinks on the table then said, “He said not to drink all of them, but that doesn’t mean we can’t drink some of them, right?”

Leliana chuckled, “No, I suppose it doesn’t.” She smiled too and sat down at the table. “I cannot believe you actually managed to pull this off without any of my scouts knowing or seeing,” she said, “but also you _have_ to tell me _how_ you did that. I’d rather like to prevent it from ever happening again. I mean, if you can do it then there’s no reason an assassin or spy couldn’t also do that. As much as some people want the Inquisitor dead, I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried. And the last thing we need is someone assassinating the Inquisitor while Corypheus yet lives.”

“I maintain that I’m not sure we necessarily _need_ the Inquisitor to defeat Corypheus. If we can figure out why he’s still alive and prevent that from happening again… A warden could theoretically kill him,” Meiriana said. “I trust Varric when he says that Hawke and Bethany killed Corypheus. If an archdemon can send its soul to the nearest tainted creature and Corypheus somehow has that power, I don’t see why he can’t be killed. It’s got to be something about him specifically.

“The archdemon soul kills wardens because a body cannot survive with two complete strong souls within it, but… what if his soul isn’t complete or is just stronger? I mean… the archdemon wakes up, leads an army, dies. It probably doesn’t eat. It’s probably still half asleep and nowhere near its full strength. But Corypheus, he woke up with some degree of awareness as to what was happening around him. He’s like… one of those people who wakes up and five minutes later is perfectly awake. Whereas the archdemon is one of those people that can’t function after they wake up until they’ve eaten something.”

Ella nodded slightly. “It wasn’t easy,” she said, “getting here without anyone knowing, I mean. The hardest part was making sure that no one questioned me. Mostly I just pretended to be a traveler. Does the Inquisition ever think to question the incoming travelers or do most of your people just assume they’re all refugees? And as far as Corypheus is concerned, not knowing how he’s able to stay alive after being killed while near a tainted creature or person is _exactly_ why we locked him in prison instead of just killing him.”

She took a deep breath then added, “There’s also the matter of his ability to influence wardens due to his connection to the taint, I don’t know if that is, in fact how he’s capable of such a feat. Probably something to do with him being one of those original magisters. Plus, we can slay archdemons because we drink the blood.”

“Ew,” Leliana said involuntarily. “Sorry, I just… If you ever told me the Joining involved that, I probably forgot.”

“It’s supposed to be a secret,” Meiriana said. “So please don’t tell anyone, ma vhenan.”

Leliana nodded. “I wouldn’t dream of it. Are you suggesting that if you drank Corypheus’ blood you could kill him?”

“No… not exactly. I’m saying that I’m not sure if what makes wardens the only people who can successfully kill an archdemon would make us able to successfully kill Corypheus,” Ella said. “And I’m not willing to risk anyone’s lives to find out. I’m actually not sure how you managed to gain that information, Meiri. The papers, notes, information, and warnings about the prison didn’t arrive until after you’d left the keep. I know I didn’t send it to you because the risk of the information falling into the wrong hands was too great. And the knowledge is usually reserved to just the Warden-Commander.”

“Insofar as Weisshaupt is concerned, that _is_ me,” Meiriana pointed out.

“True enough,” Ella replied. “Still I’m not sure what makes him so special. I’d heard odd reports about him. They claim that he has control of an archdemon. I don’t believe that to be true. A blighted dragon, perhaps, but not an archdemon. It’s too soon after the last blight and we haven’t seen or heard any word of any suspicious increases in darkspawn activity.”

“Other than Corypheus himself, you mean,” Meiriana said.

“That’s a given, though,” Ella said. “I… didn’t actually come here to discuss and theorize about Corypheus.”

“Why are you here?” Leliana asked. “Sage—“

“Who let those dogs in here!” a voice cried out on the floor below shortly before Maric and Fluffy graced the top of the stairs. A minute or so later, the bartender was followed suit. “I should have known,” he said when he caught sight of Meiriana and the dogs that were now sitting at her feet.

“Are they going to be a problem?” Meiriana asked. “I’ll keep them right here with me and pay for anything they eat. If it’ll be a problem I can tell them to stay outside, but Mabari are stubborn, I’m not sure they’d listen.”

“If they make a mess—“ the bartender began.

“I’ll clean it up myself,” Meiriana replied.

He narrowed his eyes for a moment then nodded. “They can stay. Just keep them quiet.”

“No problem,” she replied then looked down at them and said, “You heard him. You have to stay quiet or you’ll have to stay outside.”

Maric tilted his head and Fluffy nuzzled Meiriana’s hand, whining slightly in agreement.

“Fereldens,” the bartender said shaking his head slightly and heading back down the stairs.

Meiriana smiled at Ella. “I don’t think people words can express how happy Fluffy probably is to have Maric back.”

“I wouldn’t dream of separating them again. Poor Maric whined so much, I hated seeing him so sad. Leliana, I think you were saying something before the dogs found us again?”

“Just that Sage didn’t say anything about why she wanted us to come to the tavern with her,” Leliana replied, “just that she did. Well she did say it wasn’t her and Sera planning something. At first I thought she just wanted us here because the tavern scares her, maker knows her sister has probably fed her a thousand horror stories about taverns and drunk men, then I thought maybe I’d lost track of the days and that it was someone’s nameday. But now I know that when she was it wasn’t her and Sera planning that she was meaning that it was you and her planning.”

“Sera said that Sage isn’t supposed to talk to her,” Ella said. “Is that why she’s not supposed to be in the tavern?”

“Yes,” Leliana said. “Though I don’t know how you figured out she isn’t supposed to be in here just from me saying that the tavern scares her.”

“Oh, Sage mentioned it when she was talking to Scout Harding. I just happened to overhear it,” Ella said.

“For the most part, yes,” Leliana replied. “That’s why she’s not supposed to come in here. The Inquisitor thinks that banning Sage from the tavern will keep her from talking to Sera.”

“Why does the Inquisitor hate Sera so much?” Ella asked.

Leliana and Meiriana exchanged a look of slight concern. Like they were scared to answer that question. Then Leliana sighed and said, “Because Sera loves Sage.”

“What is it like jealousy or something?” Ella asked.

“The Inquisitor knows that Sera can teach Sage to see through her,” Meiriana said. “Not like in a magic way, but like to see the fact that she’s being abused. The Inquisitor hates Sera because given the choice, Sage would choose Sera over her.”

 Ella nodded seriously then said, “I’m going to kill the Inquisitor.”

“Maker’s Breath, Ella you can’t just say things like that,” Leliana said. “What if someone heard you? The soldiers would have to take it as a serious threat.”

“It is a serious threat,” Ella replied.

“Ella,” Meiriana said. “I know you’re angry, I know that you hate this. You’re well within your rights to want to protect Sage but there’s something you’re forgetting. You’re the Warden-Commander of Ferelden. You attack the Inquisitor, and you’ll turn the Grey-Wardens into sworn enemies of The Inquisition, The Orlesian Empire, and the Chantry. That won’t help anyone. Not Sage. Not you. Not anyone. Please remember Ferelden only overturned the banishment of the Wardens a few years before the Blight and many of them still hate us despite our actions during the Blight.”

Ella grumbled but didn’t try to argue with that. The logic of it all was sound enough. An international war would not help Sage or the Wardens one bit. “The reason I came here is because… because the Keep is really lonely. Everyone is either too busy to report back to the Keep in person or reports in by bird. Anders, despite knowing that you’re not there to break his nose again, refuses to come back on the grounds that he thinks you’ll kill him for what he did in Kirkwall.”

“I did apologize for breaking his nose,” Meiriana protested. “But he’s right. Never mind the whole chantry thing, he was rude to Merrill. I’ll kick his ass for that no matter where we meet.”

“Velanna left, but you know that. I have no idea where she is or what she’s doing but I am, supposed to be, assured that her ‘mission’ is incredibly important,” Ella said. “I guess as long as she isn’t causing problems I can’t really say anything about it either way.”

“She’s collecting Elven lore in that journal I gave her,” Meiriana said. “Writing the stories down so they’ll be easier to share, and so they will persist.”

“That’s actually really nice,” Ella said with a smile. “I’m glad she’s doing that. Nate is recruiting. He wanted to see the world. Without a Blight recruiting is the best option. I’ve yet to hear any complaints nor have I had to bail him out of jail, so I think he’s doing okay. Sigrun… I want to believe she’s still out there somewhere. I haven’t heard anything from or about her since she left. Oghren is with his family.”

“What about Alistair? I know he’s on the throne and all, with your sister, and whatever but have you heard from him? I asked him to write me and he hasn’t,” Meiriana said.

“He _was_ angry about the Rebel Mages still being in Ferelden,” Ella said. “Even asked for my help ‘convincing’ the Inquisition to send them somewhere else. I simply reminded him that I very decidedly am not setting foot anywhere near the village of Haven or the Valley of Sacred Ashes after all the shit we went through ten years ago. He stopped complaining then, I think he thought that maybe having the mages in Haven amounted to some kind of punishment or something.” She chuckled.

“Honestly,” she added, “I just think he needs to relax a little, whatever problem he has with Fiona can be solved some time when the fate of the world doesn’t hang in the balance. Plus, it’s his own fault for forgetting that Haven is in Ferelden. If you send Night to him with a letter, he’ll probably respond. Last time we talked he asked where you were.”

“Ooh, so he does still care,” Meiriana said happily.

Maric whined at her feet, seeming to be offended that no one was petting him. Meiriana chuckled and pet his head gently with one hand.

“Okay so now that I know that… I’m sorry. I never intended not to write you,” Meiriana said rather sullenly.

It was such a sudden change of tone that is shocked Ella. “How did—“

“I’m an empath, remember?” Meiriana said. “I was just afraid that if I wrote to you and you learned that I was trying to help the Inquisition defeat Corypheus you’d order me to come back to Vigil’s Keep. I want to be useful and here is where I can do that. Plus, I hate the Keep.”

“Your last letter said that you’d found Morrigan and you weren’t going to let her leave you behind again,” Ella pointed out.

“I did find Morrigan,” Meiriana said. “Well I mean, Leliana already knew where she was. I can’t say I’m entirely happy that Leliana kept the information from me for so long, but at any rate, she spends most of her time in the garden with her son.”

“I see.”

Meiriana nodded then reached into her pocket with her free hand and pulled out three silvers and set them on the table. “I bet this that you won’t last two rounds against the Lady Ambassador.”

Ella crooked her brow. “In Wicked Grace? Just how good is Lady Montilyet?”

Meiriana laughed. “She’s Antivan,” she said as though that explained everything one could ever want to know about Lady Josephine, despite the fact that the only two Antivans Meiriana had ever met were her and Zevran.

“I once heard it said that she could charm the feathers off a bird,” Leliana supplied as though that helped any.

“Antivans are dangerous. I mean, Zevran could have killed us… somehow,” Ella said with a slight chuckle. “Oriana used to say that Antivan women are most dangerous when armed with words and poison. I’m not sure I should take the bet, on the one hand I’m sure I’m not _that_ bad at Wicked Grace, on the other I haven’t played in years.”

\--

Sage smiled slightly, standing by the banister on the second floor of the main building of Skyhold watching Vivienne as she took notes from a book she was reading. Varric and Sera were waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Sage had wanted to do this alone. After a moment, she stepped forward. “Madame Vivienne?” she inquired quietly.

Vivienne looked up for a moment and smiled softly at Sage. “Yes, my dear?”

“I was wondering if you might like to join us for a game of Wicked Grace?” She made sure that her request was very politely worded. If it was too rude, Vivienne would turn her down on principle.

“I don’t normally involve myself in such frivolous things, my dear,” Vivienne replied.

“I would very much like it if you considered making an exception just this once,” Sage bargained. “The Warden-Commander of Ferelden has joined us here at Skyhold and this would be an excellent opportunity for you to get to know her, if that is something that would interest you.”

“I’m afraid I can’t, my dear,” Vivienne said. “I’m busy working on an important theory about a certain potion. There will be plenty of other opportunities for me to get to know the Warden-Commander.”

“Please, Madame Vivienne,” Sage slightly whined. She tried to look appropriately disappointed.

“I’m simply too busy at the moment, my dear,” Vivienne stated. “And you should know that pouting simply does not work on me. You’re getting better at it though, I would test it on Lady Montilyet. It should work on her.”

“If not now, then what about when you get done with that or want to take a break?” Sage asked. It wasn’t a promise that Vivienne would in fact join them this time, but it was better than a complete refusal.

“Perhaps then, my dear,” Vivienne said. “Though I cannot say when that would actually be.”

“I will settle for being happy that you would even consider joining me in the game,” Sage replied bowing slightly.

“Your politeness does you much credit, my dear. I will make an effort to be finished with my research for the day before the final hand in your game of Wicked Grace. It is the best that I can promise you,” Vivienne said. She smiled at Sage.

Sage smiled back and nodded. “Thank you.”

“You are very welcome, my dear.”

Sage turned and headed back down the stairs. She might not exactly have gotten what she wanted, but she did get what could only be considered the second-best thing. A promise of an attempt to eventually join the game.

“So, she isn’t going to join us, is she?” Varric asked when Sage reached the bottom of the stairs.

“She’s busy with something,” Sage said. “But she promised to join us when it’s done, provided she finishes it before we finish our game.”

“Well it’s not a no,” Sera pointed out.

“Better than I could have managed,” Varric said. “Nice work, Sprinkles. You’re pretty good at doing the seemingly impossible.”

Sage grinned, incredibly happy with the praise she was receiving. She was always happy to hear her friends say nice things about her, and she could swear that she was almost used to it; it almost didn’t shock her anymore. Before she could reply, Iron Bull walked over with Dorian.

“Dorian!” she said happily running over to hug him. “Good morning.”

“Well aren’t you just the happiest thing today,” Dorian replied hugging her back. “The world would be much better if only all people were so happy to see me. Really, the world doesn’t know what it’s missing out on.”

“We could show them,” Sage suggested pulling back from the hug and smiling up at him. “Throw a big party in your honor.”

“As much as I like that idea Sage, I don’t think a party would be the best idea. What would we be celebrating other than how devilishly handsome I am?” Dorian chuckled.

“We could start with celebrating your nameday,” Sage suggested. “It would be a party literally all about you.”

“That is an excellent idea,” Dorian said. “Nameday celebrations are quite common in Tevinter. Have you ever had one?”

“No,” Sage said. It had never bothered her before that such things weren’t things that she and Rose had ever celebrated, but the way Dorian had said it made it sound like some essential thing she was really missing out on by not having celebrated. A nameday is a nameday even if you don’t get presents. Isn’t it?

“When is your nameday, Little?” Iron Bull asked.

“Nine Harvestmere,” Sage replied. As far as she was aware that wasn’t for some time yet, and the last one had gone by unnoticed by anyone, well anyone other than Sera who had given her a cupcake when she’d mentioned it.

“Wait,” Dorian said, “just how old are you then? We missed one of your namedays.”

Technically they had missed all of her namedays, but arguing that would be arguing semantics. “I’m… uhhh… what year is this?”

“It’s 9:42 Dragon,” Dorian replied.

“And it’s not Harvestmere yet, right?” she added. Sure, time was always the same, the sun rose and set and then rose again and that was how you knew it was another day and the previous one was gone. Sometimes though she lost track of the arbitrary numbers that society had assigned the days and as such, usually lost count of how many had passed to know which thirty days they were currently in, or so to say, what month it was.

“Right.” He nodded. Perhaps he knew what it was like to forget what day it was. Considering she’d seen him skip sleeping altogether when engrossed in research, that wouldn’t surprise her one bit.

“I’m 16.” The simplest facts were often the easiest to remember, though she could recall way more complex facts, and quite a number of them. She smiled. The simplest facts were often the most shocking to other people.

“Maker’s breath, Sprinkles,” Varric said. “I’ve known Bianca, the person, longer than you’ve been alive. I have some books older than you, both that I own and that I’ve written. Now I feel old.”

Sage shrugged. She hadn’t been alive very long, so that really didn’t surprise her. “It’ll be a long time before we can celebrate my nameday,” she said. “It’s okay, Varric. I don’t think you’re old. I think you’re wonderful.”

“If you really want to have a party to celebrate my nameday,” Dorian said. “Lady Josephine would be the best person to help you plan it. I hear she’s going to play Wicked Grace with us. Perhaps you could get her to agree to helping plan the party.”

“We haven’t asked her to play Wicked Grace with us yet,” Sage said. She smiled and started walking towards Josephine’s office.

Sera caught up to her quickly and took her hand. “Buckles,” she said quietly. “Are you okay?”

Sage nodded. “Do you think that she’ll have cupcakes? I want cupcakes. I… haven’t eaten since yesterday and cupcakes would be amazing.”

“I don’t think anyone has cupcakes this early in the morning, they might have muffins though,” Sera replied.

“Breakfast cupcakes,” Sage said. “That’s what those are.”

Sera tilted her head slightly. “Muffins are nothing like cupcakes, though.”

“But they are,” Sage said. “Muffins are fluffy slightly less sweet cupcakes that are made with a different kind of flower and yeast and sometimes fruits.”

“No, muffins are flat and hard,” Sera argued.

“No?” Sage said. “Unless we’re thinking of two very different kinds of muffins.”

“Sera is thinking of Ferelden Muffins. Quite different from the ones you’ll find in Antiva or Orlais,” Dorian said. “Still quite good when made properly, and not burnt.”

“There’s more than one kind of muffin?” Sage asked her eyes slightly shinning the way they always did when she learned something new. “I want to try them all.”

“There will be plenty of time to try all them muffins,” Dorian said. “For now, why don’t you just get some food while we’re at the tavern?”

“That’s a good idea, Buckles. You’ll already be there anyway, and they do make food.”

Sage considered this then nodded as she pushed open the door to Josephine’s office. Josephine looked up from her desk when Sage walked in. She appeared to be working on some kind of report though the lack of concentration on her features told Sage everything she needed to know about how important whatever it was must be.

“Lady Sage, what can I do for you today?” Josephine asked, slightly humming.

“I’m not a Lady,” Sage said. She said it so often it surprised her that people still didn’t seem to understand it. “Will you play Wicked Grace with us, Lady Josephine?”

“I’m afraid I’m rather busy right now, Lady Sage,” Josephine replied.

Sage started to tell her _again_ that she’s not a Lady but stopped. There had to be some reason that Josephine insisted upon calling her a Lady and she didn’t feel like figuring out what it was. “What are you busy with?”

“I’m working on a report for Leliana about some nobles who have been trying to…” she trailed off for a moment.

“Trying to what?” Sage asked. “It’s not a secret, is it?”

“Not exactly,” Josephine replied.

“I’m sure you can tell me,” Sage said with a smile. “Maybe I can help you with the report?”

“I’m afraid that would not be the best idea,” Josephine said. “These nobles want you to marry their son.”

“Me?” Sage tilted her head then looked back at Sera who just shrugged. “If it were up to me, I’m not marrying anyone unless that someone is Sera. But I’m not even old enough to get married. Am I?”

“That depends on who you ask,” Josephine replied.

“Well I asked myself and myself said no,” Sage said. “I don’t want to marry some man I’ve never met.”

“That is what Leliana and I have been trying to tell these nobles too,” Josephine said. “I’m surprised, honestly, that they’ve inquired about marrying you instead of the Inquisitor. Frankly, I’m not sure what they’re after, but I don’t think it’s as simple as marriage.”

“Is anything _ever_ that simple with nobles?” Sera asked. “Ain’t no one marrying my girlfriend except me.”

“I’m not surprised they don’t want to marry the Inquisitor,” Sage said. “She doesn’t exactly give off the whole ‘well behaved wife’ vibe.”

“And you do?” Sera asked.

“Well I wouldn’t kill my husband… so yes, probably,” Sage said. “At any rate, they’re probably under the impression that getting close to me would get them close to Rose. They don’t know.”

“Don’t know what?” Josephine asked. “I’m sure we could tell them whatever it is. Maybe it would get them to back down.”

“They don’t know that Rose isn’t my sister anymore,” Sage said. “I’m not noble. She is. It’s not that difficult.”

Josephine put down her quill for a moment and looked at Sage. “What makes you so certain that you are not a noble like your sister, Sage?”

“She’s the Inquisitor and I am no one,” Sage said. “She has a surname and it is not mine. I don’t _want_ to be her family. I want to be Leliana’s family. I am allowed to pick, aren’t I?” She wasn’t telling lies. She wasn’t. But not telling the whole truth isn’t telling lies. Family isn’t supposed to hurt family. Sera said so.

“And does Leliana know you want to be her family?” Josephine asked.

“I should hope so,” Sage said. _I do call her mom._ “You can ask her yourself if you would like. Please come play Wicked Grace with us, Lady Josephine. Leliana and both her girlfriends will be there. It won’t be as fun without you.”

“I’m not entirely sure what all is going on here, Ruffles. But you’re working too hard if whatever it is has Sage upset,” Varric said as he walked over. Dorian and Iron Bull were waiting by the door.

“Some noble twit wants to marry Sage,” Sera said.

“I can see how that would be a problem,” Varric said. “Since Sage doesn’t want to marry anyone.”

“I want to marry Sera,” Sage said. “But we aren’t ready.”

Sera gently took Sage’s hand. There was no way that either of them would give up without a fight, not when it was something so important to them.

“I will consider all the things you have told me, Sage, but I must finish the report,” Josephine said.

“You can’t work _all_ the time, Ruffles,” Varric said. “If the report is for Leliana, just tell her what she wants to know in person. She’d probably appreciate that. Besides it’ll be fun to see you beat the Warden-Commander.”

“If Leliana is playing too I do not think we have enough time for this game,” Josephine said. “Not if we would like to finish before the sun sets.”

“You can’t really think it would be that difficult to beat Leliana,” Sage said. “I believe in you, mum. You can do it. She can’t beat you. At least not all the time.”

“You heard the kid, Ruffles. She believes in you. You wouldn’t want to disappoint her, would you?” Varric said.

Josephine started to reply but Sage pouted. After a moment of trying to think of an argument that would stand up against disappointing Sage, she chuckled then replied, “Okay, okay. I’ll join you.”

Sage grinned and wiggled slightly beside Sera. “You’re the best, mum.” She then pulled Sera gently into leaving the room with her. “Let’s go tell Leliana we have everyone now.”

“Do you think she even realizes when she calls you ‘mum’, Ruffles?” Varric asked.

\--

“Okay so,” Ella said. “I’m not sure I quite understand what you’re saying there.”

“Sage might mention him,” Meiriana said.

“Warden Blackwall,” Ella said to confirm that she was still on the same page.

“Yes,” Meiriana replied. “She doesn’t know that he’s not who he says he is.”

“Should I be concerned about that? Who is he?” Ella asked.

“His name is Thom Rainier,” Meiriana said. “He’s a warden conscript. Warden-Constable Blackwall recruited him. They were on the Storm Coast when Blackwall told Rainier to collect a vial of Darkspawn blood for the Joining. To hear Rainier tell it, Blackwall died shielding him from a darkspawn ambush, there were not supposed to be so many so close to the surface. My investigations turned up Warden-Constable Blackwall’s rank pin and signs of darkspawn activity but not Blackwall’s body.” She looked down for a moment and shook her head. “Impersonating a Warden is bad, but he seems to be doing it with the best of intentions.”

“And you haven’t told the Inquisitor because…?”

“It’s frankly none of her business,” Meiriana said. “I’m sorry, but honestly if either I or Leliana thought he was any danger to the Inquisition we would have turned him over to Orlais already. Or I could just force him to undergo the Joining now, he’s already been conscripted I don’t see a problem with making him do something he’s going to have to do eventually anyway.”

“So, we have to keep this secret from Sage too because she might tell her sister?”

“No. It’s actually because she looks up to Warden Blackwall and we aren’t sure how she’d react to learning one of the people she trusts is wanted for treason on an act that killed an entire family.”

“When you put it like that this Blackwall guy sounds kind of like Sten,” Ella said.

“He ordered their deaths,” Meiriana said. “He gave his men orders and they followed. It hurts him, he’s a good man. Or trying to be. If the Inquisitor finds out about him and I don’t agree with what she’s doing I’m conscripting him. _Again._ ” She paused for a moment then said, “Blackwall isn’t like Sten, but at the same time he is. He was a solider. But he gave bad orders and his men trusted him.”

“Meiri,” Ella said gently. “It’s okay. Whatever about this is bothering you, it’s okay.”

“How many of our men are out there right now, following bad orders because Rose would rather listen to someone who validates her fear of magic than someone who actually knows what in the void they’re talking about?” Meiriana said. “It’s not right. She doesn’t deserve to be in charge; it’s like putting Fluffy in charge of guarding a pile of raw meat.”

Fluffy whined, seeming to be offended.

“No, you’re probably right, Fluffy. You probably would be a better leader than the Inquisitor is,” Meiriana said. “At least you would feel appropriately ashamed for stealing some of the meat when you get hungry.”

“Should you really be talking about the Inquisitor like this?” Ella asked. “She can’t kick you out or anything?”

“I’d like to see her try. I’ll kick her ass,” Meiriana said. “I already punched Cullen and I am not sorry.”

“I don’t think Meiriana has anything to worry about,” Leliana said. “The Inquisitor is afraid of her.”

“Afraid of Meiri?” Ella almost laughed.

“The way Rose heard it, Meiri killed the archdemon, crowned two kings and stopped an army of demons,” Leliana said.

“She didn’t do that alone though,” Ella pointed out.

“No, but she does still have the allegiance of Ferelden’s king. Much closer ties to him than most anyone else in the Inquisition can claim. Plus, she has the Wardens _and_ the Antivan Crows, provided Zevran left any of them alive. What’s more, Meiri is a mage _and_ Sage will actually talk to her.”

“Sage doesn’t talk to Rose anymore?” Meiriana asked.

“Not that I’ve seen. She and Sera got into a fight about it a couple weeks ago, and since then Sage has been avoiding her sister like she’s got some kind of disease. I’ve tried getting her to talk to me about it but she won’t.”

Fluffy sat up quickly beside Meiriana’s feet and tilted her head then stood up and walked around behind Leliana and a little way away and started sniffing.

“Cole, you can’t cause Fluffy to not notice you. She likes you,” Meiriana said.

Ella tilted her head slightly confused until the boy appeared a little way away from Fluffy. “Do I even want to ask? What is he?”

“He’s a spirit,” Meiriana said. “He means no harm. He only wants to help. What did you want to tell us, Cole?”

Cole paused as he reached down to pet Fluffy’s head.

“Or did you just want to pet the dogs?” Meiriana suggested.

“She no longer thinks that she and her sister are family,” Cole said. “That’s what the fight was about. She got hurt. Sera said that shouldn’t happen. They argued. Family isn’t supposed to hurt family. Sera only agreed not to fight because Sage agreed that she would do everything she could to stop being her sister’s family.” He bit his lip. “Sage doesn’t want to talk. She thinks it’ll make everything worse. Her sister doesn’t know or doesn’t care or never wanted to know. She only wants to control. Sage is better without her.”

Meiriana glanced at Ella who seemed to be considering her drink very carefully.

“It sounds like a lot of people would be better without the Inquisitor,” Ella said. “I don’t know who this… spirit… is. Or what he wants. And I don’t really trust him. But… he sounds like you, Meiri. So, I will… tolerate him if nothing else.”

Meiriana looked at Cole then nodded. “I don’t expect you to like him, or even really tolerate him. All I expect is that you’ll be nicer than Cullen and Vivienne.”

“What’s that mean?”

“Sage is my friend and they call me a demon,” Cole said. “But I’m not. Spirit is different. I am not a demon. But if I become one… Cassandra will kill me. I want her to. If I stop helping, then I don’t deserve to stay.”

“Do you help Sage?” Ella asked.

“I think so, yes,” Cole said. “The song she dances to is different than everyone else. Someone has to tell her the music she hears isn’t the same music other people hear. My words don’t make sense. I’m sorry.”

Ella nodded slightly. “She thinks differently than other people and so you have to help her because she doesn’t _know_ that she thinks differently than other people?”

“It’s not wrong,” Cole said. “Just different. She’s happy. She and Sera work together like a song made of incorrect instruments working in a harmony that doesn’t sound like it should be as beautiful as it is. Other people don’t understand. I don’t do anything for Sage except translate. Like when Josephine is upset and Leliana is the only one who can understand her. It’s Sera who helps Sage.”

He paused for a moment then looked in the direction of the stairs. “They’re coming.”

Meiriana put a hand on Ella’s arm gently. She didn’t seem to be wanting anything, but the gesture made Ella smile nonetheless. Meiriana leaned against Ella happily.

Ella looked down at her, wondering what she wanted but it didn’t really matter much that she looked, Ella wasn’t a mind reader. Whatever Meiriana wanted, she’d have to actually say. Even after so many years of being together, it seemed to Ella like Meiriana still often forgot that little fact. It would have been incredibly cute if it didn’t often lead to Meiriana feeling like she was being ignored.

Leliana smiled slightly. “Meiriana if you miss Ella so much, why not just give her a kiss?”

Meiriana blushed slightly and gave some kind of vague handwavy gesture indicating that she didn’t think she could reach Ella’s face from where she was sitting without moving and Maric was laying on her feet.

Leliana chuckled. “Ella, I think Meiri wants to kiss you but doesn’t want to make Maric move.”

Ella chuckled slightly too. “Is that right, Meiri?”

“Yes,” Meiriana replied. “I miss you and Leliana kisses differently than you do. I like Leliana’s kisses but I like your kisses too.”

“So, you want to kiss me?” Ella asked.

“Yes,” Meiriana said with as much conviction as she could.

Ella smiled and leaned down. “You sure?”

“Just kiss me already,” Meiriana said. Her tone was light and happy.

Ella nodded and gently kissed Meiriana’s lips. She lingered with the kiss, but didn’t push.

Meiriana smiled and kissed back for a moment before a voice interrupted them and she pulled back shocked by the interruption.

“It would be a lot cuter if you hugged her when you kissed her,” Sage said.

“Sage don’t interrupt they were having a moment,” Leliana said.

“Aww. I’m sorry,” Sage replied. “Did I ruin the moment?”

“No, no. It’s okay, Sage,” Meiriana said. “There’ll be time later. That’s the good thing about moments. There’s more than one of them.”

Ella smiled slightly at Sage.

Sage smiled slightly back. She rocked slightly back on her feet for a moment, unsure of what she should say.

After a moment of awkward silence, Sera leaned over and whispered in Sage’s ear, “Go pet the dog with Creepy. I’ll handle talking to people. You’ve talked a lot today, and will talk more; it’s okay to take a break for a bit, yeah?”

Sage nodded then hugged Sera and walked over to sit on the floor beside Fluffy and Cole.

“Did I do something to upset her?” Ella asked quietly. “She was fine talking to me and now she seems scared of me.”

“I don’t think it was anything you did,” Sera said. “She’s just not used to you, yeah? And you are kind of like her mom now. Well… you’re married to her mom. There’s probably got to be a bit of adjusting.”

Leliana’s eyes widened for a moment. “Shit. I didn’t think to warn her about that. I just. Maker, I don’t even know if she _wants_ to be your kid, Ella. And I didn’t think to ask you if you want her either.”

“Leliana, relax love. It’s okay. It’ll just take some adjusting for both of us is all,” Ella said.

“No, Ella,” Leliana said, “I’m not sure you understand. She probably _is_ afraid of you now _because_ I didn’t think to ask if you want her. She doesn’t know whether or not you do.”

Ella started to reply then stopped. “You think she’s afraid that I might not want her?”

Sera looked back at Sage for a moment, she was still petting Fluffy and not saying anything. She sighed slightly. “Probably,” she said. “Sage always thought her sister wanted her. But you don’t hurt people you want. It’s taken a lot for me, for any of us here, to show her that we _do_ want her. I’d be surprised, yeah, if she wasn’t scared that you might not want her.”

“Should… Should I talk to her?” Ella asked quietly.

“No, not yet,” Sera said. “Not until you’re sure of what to say, and know what you want her to know.”

Ella nodded slightly. “Where are the others?”

“I’m sure they’re coming soon,” Sera said. “We left ahead of them, yeah? Sage wanted to tell you that we’ve got Iron Bull, Dorian, Varric, and Lady Josephine.”

“Lady?” Leliana asked slightly teasingly.

“Sage gets sad when I don’t call her that,” Sera replied with a slight shrug. “She thinks that Josephine will be offended or something.”

“I see,” Leliana said.

“I don’t like making Sage sad,” Sera said. “Sometimes I do make her sad, but I don’t mean to. I think she understands the difference. I hope she understands the difference.”

“I’m sure she does,” Leliana replied. “She cares about you a lot.”

Sera nodded, then turned around as she heard Varric’s voice from the stairs.

“I wasn’t aware there’d be Mabari joining us for this game,” he chuckled.

“The dogs aren’t playing,” Leliana replied.

“Shame, I knew a few dogs in Kirkwall that were better at it than most people,” he winked at Fluffy who just panted slightly in agreement.

“Don’t encourage her,” Meiriana said. “Last time Fluffy got near a deck of cards she ate them.”

Fluffy whined like Meiriana had just offended her.

Sage pet Fluffy’s head a little more then stood up and walked over to the table. She counted the spaces around the table on her fingers and came to the conclusion that it wasn’t big enough. “We need more room.”

“I agree, Little,” Iron Bull said as he, Josephine, and Dorian walked over. “This table is nice, but it’s too small for all of us to sit at. You, me, the three of them, your girlfriend, Cole, Dorian, Varric, and the ambassador. That’s how many people, Little?”

“Uhhh… ten? I think?” Sage replied, trying to count it up on her fingers. “We’d need at least one more chair too, for if Madame Vivienne decides to join us.”

“Has she gotten over the fact that I’m ‘an apostate’ yet?” Meiriana asked. “It took months for Alistair to stop bugging me about it.”

“Yes, I think?” Sage nodded slightly. “She… seems to at least agree that you’re not hurting anything and Dalish customs are different than Chantry customs. Plus you’re a warden, and technically mage wardens are not apostates. Technically. I think.”

“You’re confused,” Meiriana noted amicably. “Perhaps I should have just asked her.”

“No,” Sage said, sounding even more confused. “I mean… maybe? You’re not an apostate, you’re a Grey-Warden, and Dalish, and were never part of the chantry. I… If any of us are apostates, it’s me.”

“You’re not an apostate,” Leliana said.

“I am though. I’m not a circle mage, I never was,” Sage said. “It doesn’t matter that there mostly aren’t circles now. I am an apostate.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This bit was shorter than I thought it would be. I almost want to go back and make the two chapters have equal number of words instead of the first one being like 12K and this one only being like 5.5K but I'm lazy.

Sage moved away from the end of the table when Iron Bull and Dorian came over with another table. They set it down forming a table twice as long as it was before.

“Now we should have enough room,” Iron Bull said.

“Where’d Lady Josephine go?” Sage asked.

“She’s getting you some food,” Dorian said. “We don’t want you to go hungry, not when it’s not necessary.”

“So…” Sage said, choosing to drop the other conversation thread when no one had anything to say to pick it back up again. “Who sits where?”

“Well, Sprinkles,” Varric said. “Sunshine, Nightingale, and Feathers are already sitting. I think Buttercup should sit beside Nightingale with you beside her, and Cole beside you. Then it’s me, and Tiny, with Sparkler beside him, and Ruffles can sit across from you.”

“Again with the nicknames, how do you all have nicknames,” Ella said.

“Varric likes making nicknames,” Meiriana said. “He calls Merrill ‘Daisy’ and that’s adorable.”

“Wait wait,” Ella said as they all moved to sit at the table in the spots Varric had picked. “Iron Bull is ‘Tiny’?”

Iron Bull shrugged. “Little calls me Iron Dragon sometimes,” he said. “Now _that_ is a good nickname.”

“But… Josephine isn’t going to sit across from me,” Sage said, “Because Dorian is sitting there.”

“Well… I guess that is true,” Varric said. “Not as many chairs fit as I thought. She’ll just have to sit across from your girlfriend. Unless Dorian wants to trade places with her.”

“Aww Sage, do you not want me sitting across from you?” Dorian asked pretending to be offended.

“I don’t mind, I was just confused,” Sage said.

Cole smiled slightly as he walked over and took his seat next to Sage. “I get to play too?” he asked.

“Don’t talk to the face cards,” Varric said. “They can’t hear you.”

“Okay,” Josephine said as she topped the stairs and walked over, placing a plate of food in front of Sage. “No carrots, and no cinnamon. I don’t want any of you to be drunk before we actually start the game.”

“I suppose that’s fair,” Iron Bull said. “You’re the dealer so it’s your rules.”

“But,” Ella said, as Josephine sat down next to her, “we are allowed to be drunk at some point right?”

Josephine raised a brow at Leliana.

“Well… Ella. If you can win any of the hands, we might consider letting you get drunk during the game. Otherwise, not until after for you. When you get drunk, Maric makes a lot of loud worried noises and you don’t want him kicked out do you?”

Ella shook her head. “No. Okay, no getting drunk yet.”

“Lady Sage are you going to join us this hand or will you wait until you’ve finished eating?” Josephine asked.

Sage poked at the food on her plate for a second then said, “I’d like to play, yes. But I don’t have anything to bet with.”

Josephine chuckled slightly. “What happens if you win?”

“I’ve no idea, mum,” Sage said smiling.

“I’ll cover her bets,” Leliana said.

Josephine raised a brow. “That confident she’ll win?”

“I’m confident that even if she looses I’m not letting her lose a single coin she doesn’t have,” Leliana replied.

Ella tilted her head slightly and then leaned over and whispered to Meiriana, “Why doesn’t Sage have money of her own?”

“Just blame her sister,” Meiriana said. “That’s what the rest of us do. Though I think it’s kind of like when we first met. I think Sage just doesn’t know how to use money even if she has it.”

Leliana smiled slightly and leaned over herself. “Varric’s been teaching her, don’t worry so much.”

Ella nodded slightly and sat back up. “Let’s play. I’ll start the bet. Three silvers.”

Meiriana laughed slightly. “You’re going to end up owing me that. I’ll see that bet.”

Josephine chuckled too. “What makes you think that she’ll owe it to you?”

“She’s going to lose to you and I bet three silvers she wouldn’t last one round against you.”

Cole tilted his head slightly. “But you’re not clairvoyant,” he said.

“Ella’s gonna lose,” Sage said. “But not to Josephine.”

Varric chuckled as Leliana put an additional two silvers onto the bet and Sera added another silver (which Sage was sure Sera didn’t actually have). “What are you thinking, Sprinkles?”

“I’m thinking that I’m going to raise the bet to ten silvers, if Leliana is okay with that,” Sage replied.

Leliana nodded and said, “You bet however you like, Sage. Don’t worry about it.”

Cole smiled slightly. “The cards want me to bet. But they don’t want me to make it more.”

Much to Sage’s amusement none of them had even noticed that she’d not looked at her cards. She’d simply taken them and sat them face down between herself and her food.

After all the bets were placed and the game began in earnest, Meiriana said something that caught everyone’s attention.

“Someone should tell a story, it’s always better with stories.”

“Well…” Ella said, “There was this one time…”

——

After Sage finished eating she took the time to move the plate to another table so it would be out of the way. When she got back and sat back down, with Fluffy at her feet, Ella smiled at her.

“Sage, why don’t you tell us a story of your own? I’m sure you have some good ones,” Ella said.

“I don’t think anything can top that story about Kuvira and the cakes,” Sage replied. “Plus, I actually don’t really have anything interesting to say.”

“Sure you do, haven’t you ever been anywhere interesting before?” Ella asked. She narrowed her eyes when Josephine informed her that she needed to either bet or fold. “Double or nothing.”

“You’re bluffing,” Varric said pointedly.

“Am I?” Ella asked with a small smile.

“I was in Minrathos once,” Sage said. “It was beautiful, and wondrous, and terrifying.”

“Terrifying?” Meiriana asked. “I mean I’ve heard a lot of terrible things about Tevinter but I’m sure not all of them are true.”

“I imagine it could be fairly scary for Southerners,” Dorian said. “How did you get there?”

“We got into Tevinter pretending to be some merchant’s slaves, probably a bad idea but it worked, and we got out because we weren’t,” Sage replied. “It was big and old and everything there was so… so much. I was really loud and louder still because of the magic.”

“Loud?” Dorian asked. “I’m aware that magic does make a bit of noise, but how was it louder than normal?”

“I hear better than you,” Sage replied. “Magic makes noise, and a lot of magic together makes _a lot_ of noise. It hurts. It was really scary. Rose couldn’t hear it. I don’t know if that makes it better or worse. My stories aren’t very interesting.”

“If you can hear the magic even when you’re not the one doing it,” Dorian said, “then can you hear the mages practicing down in the courtyard?”

“Yes,” Sage replied.

“Interesting. And why were you in Tevinter?”

“Rose never told me, but she wasn’t happy to leave.”

Dorian hummed slightly in thought as he placed his cards down on the table. “I’m out.” He reached for his mug then paused. “One would think that your sister would be the one that doesn’t like Tevinter. It’s not exactly kind to the Soporati, and she could _never_ pass for someone actually from Tevinter. You, on the other hand, are a mage. And sure, you might not be nobility, but you’re not a slave, being your kind self someone might adopt you. Some Magister who doesn’t have a child to act as their heir, for instance. You could actually pass for someone from Tevinter.”

“I don’t know… Tevinter is loud, it is warmer than it is here though. I did like that, but Antiva is also warm. I don’t know what Rose wanted from Tevinter, but it was obvious to me that she didn’t get it. I got some of what I wanted though, there were books about magic and people let me read them, no one stopped me. What I would have really liked would have been to see inside the circle. I’ve never been in a circle that actually has mages in it.”

“You in or out, Sage?” Josephine asked interrupting Sage’s thoughts.

“I’m in for… however much we’re in for, mum,” Sage said, even though she hadn’t even realized she’d be dealt some cards while she was away from the table.

“Okay, I know _she_ is bluffing,” Varric said. “Sprinkles hasn’t even looked at her cards.”

“She’s won twice by not looking at her cards,” Josephine reminded him.

“My cards are sad,” Cole said, setting his cards on the table. “I’m out.”

“What about you, Sera?” Josephine began before she was interrupted by Ella falling backwards out of her chair.

“Fucking—”

Leliana sighed and stood up. “The mighty Warden-Commander,” she said. “Maybe you should stop drinking, Ma Cherie.”

Meiriana whimpered slightly from her chair, she hadn’t moved an inch.

Leliana bit her lip. “There’s a spider isn’t there?”

“Kill it,” Ella said. “With fire.”

“And risk setting the tavern on fire? Never. Besides I don’t even see it,” Leliana replied.

Meiriana whimpered more.

“It’s on Sunshine’s shirt,” Varric said, pointing at it from across the table.

Sage looked at the spider crawling up Meiriana’s shirt, it wasn’t all _that_ big, about the size of a gold coin, but she wasn’t scared of spiders so she couldn’t really say much about it.

“That’s a big spider,” Josephine said, moving her chair back from the table quickly.

“It’s just a—” Sera started to say something but Sage nudged her and she stopped. “Can’t you do something about it, Sage?”

Sage shook her head. “What if I mess up?”

“You won’t,” Sera said confidently.

Sage took a deep breath and focused on the spider, she hated to do this—use her magic when her sister had forbidden it—but she didn’t have much of a choice, Meiriana was obviously terrified. She took the spider off Meiriana’s shirt with her magic and sent it scurrying off across the floor with Maric and Fluffy chasing it until it was somewhere that it wouldn’t bother any of them anymore.

“See,” Sera said happily. “I knew you could do it.”

Sage nodded then said quietly, “It doesn’t feel like I did a good thing. I should have noticed the spider sooner.”

“Don’t worry about it, Buckles. It’s gone now, that’s what’s important,” Sera said.

“Are they going to be alright?” Varric asked as Leliana and Iron Bull helped Ella to stand up and set the chair upright so Ella could sit in it again.

Ella took a few deep breaths then nodded shakily.

“Ella will be fine in a moment,” Leliana said as she watched that for a second before she walked over and put a hand on Meiriana’s shoulder gently. “Breathe, love,” she whispered kneeling down to look Meiriana in the eyes. “Breathe with me.”

“I haven’t seen anyone react like that to a spider in a while,” Varric said. “Would giving her chocolate help? It always helped Hawke to have chocolate.”

Leliana shook her head. “Sugar makes Meiriana hyper,” she said. “I’m not sure how that would mix with panic but it probably wouldn’t be very well.” She bit her lip and turned back to Meiriana. “Meiriana, love, it’s gone. It’s not going to hurt you, you’re going to be fine.”

Cole bit his lip to keep from talking. He didn’t want to say anything, Sage hadn’t said it aloud but she didn’t want him doing his normal thing because it made Sera uncomfortable and she wanted the two of them to at least try to get along. Only when Sage stood up quickly and left with Fluffy at her heels did he say something. “She went to get Vivienne.”

——

Sage was quick about running across to the main building, but she almost tripped on the stairs as she went up. Fluffy helped to steady her as they headed to the second floor.

“What is that dog doing here?” Vivienne asked as Fluffy and Sage came out from the door where the steps were.

Fluffy whined slightly and looked to Sage who started trying to explain what was happening.

“Sage,” Vivienne said putting her book and notes down and quickly walking over to Sage. She put a hand gently on her shoulder. “I can’t understand you, my dear, when you talk so fast or in so many languages.”

Sage took a deep breath and nodded. “Meiriana is terrified of spiders. A spider got on her shirt while we were playing Wicked Grace in the tavern. She panicked, but it’s like… a frozen kind of panicked. Nothing Leliana does is working.”

Vivienne nodded and walked over to her potion cabinet on the wall. She looked through the potions and settled on one. “Has she been drinking?”

“Nothing alcoholic,” Sage replied. “She doesn’t want to be drunk during the game.”

“Bring me to her, my dead, this potion should help, but if it doesn’t I know a few spells that might and we don’t have time for me to teach them to you.”

Sage nodded and led Vivienne and Fluffy back to the tavern. Fluffy was still whining slightly as she walked beside Sage. There wasn’t much Sage could say at the moment, she just felt kind of useless.

Once they were back at the table, Vivienne went to work.

“Please, allow me,” Vivienne said, a polite request for Leliana to allow her access to Meiriana for what needed to be done.

Leliana nodded. Her fear over what was happening outweighing any immediate thoughts to question what Vivienne was doing. She moved back slightly, falling onto Ella’s lap, and Ella wrapped an arm around Leliana reassuringly, despite the fact that she was also terrified.

Sage watched this curiously. Perhaps Ella might make a good mom after all, she did seem to care a lot about Leliana. She bit her lip and ignored the thought as she turned back to watching Vivienne.

Vivienne knelt in front of Meiriana and uncorked the potion vial that she was carrying and held it under Meiriana’s nose for a moment. Very gently, she said, “You’ll have to drink this, dear. Don’t worry.” Then she did an unexpected thing. She addressed Cole directly. “Cole, does she understand me?”

“She does,” Cole replied. “Scared, very scared, but she understands. She can’t move. Stuck, like ice.”

Vivienne nodded slightly then said to Meiriana, “Try not to bite me if you can help it, my dear,” as she gently forced Meiriana’s mouth open enough that she could slowly empty the potion vial into it. She whispered something to Meiriana as she did so, a little spell to help Meiriana swallow the potion and not choke on it. “That wasn’t too bad, was it?” she asked gently as she let go of Meiriana’s chin and moved back a little so that she wasn’t in Meiriana’s space anymore.

After a moment, Meiriana replied though her voice was incredibly shaky, “It tastes weird.”

Vivienne nodded and smiled just a little. “That would be the Andraste’s Grace extract,” she said. “Very small quantity, not enough to cause anyone harm, but it does help. It scents the potion, helping to relax the recipient enough that they _can_ drink the potion without choking.”

Meiriana nodded slightly, seeming to think about something for a moment then said, “What happens if they’re allergic to Andraste’s Grace?”

“Then that would be very bad, my dear, but I happen to know that you’re not allergic to it because you wear the flower in your hair constantly.”

“Is this going to make me sleepy?” Meiriana asked. “Andraste’s Grace tea makes me sleepy. Will you stay to play Wicked Grace with us?”

“It is probably going to make you sleepy, as you say,” Vivienne said then looked at the tables. “It appears that you don’t have enough chairs for me to join you.”

“You can take my spot,” Meiriana said. “I’ll sit on Ella’s lap while she plays. She’ll protect me from the spiders.”

“Since when have I ever—” Ella began but Leliana interrupted her.

“If you want to be protected from spiders, you could sit on my lap, Meiri.”

“No,” Ella said quickly. “I want to hold her. Let me hold her.” She was practically whining.

“Oh, would you three just get a room already,” Varric said.

Meiriana frowned slightly. “Why?”

“You’re more hopeless than Daisy,” Varric replied.

“I resent that,” Meiriana said. “I’m sure Merrill and I are equally hopeless at whatever you’re talking about.”

“I can believe that,” Varric replied.

“Please stay, Madame Vivienne,” Sage said. “You’re the only one of who is here that isn’t here.”

“Sage, by the very nature of addressing me in that statement you’ve proven it to be false,” Vivienne replied as she stepped back so that Meiriana and Leliana could move back to wherever they were going to be.

“Oh, come on Vivvy, it’ll be fun,” Sera said. “You might even win. I can’t, but maybe you could. Someone has to beat Sage and Josie. They’ve won all the hands.”

“Wait, they’re called hands?” Sage asked then covered her mouth like she’d just revealed some great secret of her strategy by admitting that she didn’t know that.

“Maker’s breath, Sprinkles. You mean I’ve been losing to someone who doesn’t even know how to play the game?”

“So, let’s get this right. Little’s strategy is to win the game though bullshit and luck?” Iron Bull said. He laughed. “She’d make a wonderful spy if she weren’t such a terrible liar.”

“I’m a great liar,” Sage said. “Probably.”

“No, Buckles, you’re pretty shit at lying,” Sera replied. “But that’s all good innit. You don’t need to be a good liar.”

“I’ll play,” Vivienne said, “but only because I am interested to find out how Sage keeps winning if she doesn’t even know how to play.”

“So, we’re doing this?” Ella asked motioning for Leliana to get up so that Meiriana could take her spot. “Good, I need to not owe either of my wives so much money.”

“We’ll just borrow it later anyway,” Meiriana said with a chuckle. “You’re saving time this way, ma vhenan.”

Leliana moved back to her own chair then, allowing Meiriana to take her place on Ella’s lap. Vivienne nodded and took Meiriana’s old seat with a smile.

“Should we deal a new hand or play with the ones we have?” Josephine asked.

“Best deal a new one, Ruffles,” Varric said as he and the others handed Josephine back their cards.

Josephine shuffled the deck then dealt the cards with a small smile on her face. Sage took hers without looking at them, and laid them face down on the table, then leaned against Sera. She didn’t want to admit it, because she was having fun, but she was getting tired of being around everyone for so long.

The betting was handled easily, and Sage won a hand. Two hands later, both of which Vivienne had won, Cole spoke up.

“I think,” he said. “I’ve learned something. You’re not supposed to bet against Josephine, or Vivienne, or Sage.”

Vivienne nodded slightly then said to Sage, “How are you doing that? You’ve not even looked at the cards, my dear, and you honestly look like you’re about ready to fall asleep there.”

“I don’t know what the cards are worth anyway,” Sage said. “If I look at them I just get confused and then everyone bets against me and that’s scares me and I panic and drop out even if my cards turn out to be really good. So, if I don’t look at them, that won’t happen.”

Sera smiled slightly ad Sage and then said to Ella, “How long are you gonna let her sleep there? Because if you’d like to let her lie down, my room is just right over there.” She pointed toward her room. “She could sleep in there.”

“I think she’s pretty cute sleeping where she is,” Ella said, looking down at Meiriana who was snuggled cutely against her chest. “If she’s comfortable, why should I move her?”

Sera shrugged. “Just a thought.”

“How much money am I going to lose to you, Sprinkles?” Varric asked.

“None,” Sage said. “You’re losing all your money to Leliana, not me. Well and you’re losing to Lady Josephine, as well.”

“Did I ever once imply that you couldn’t keep what you’ve won?” Leliana asked. “Because if I did, I did not mean to.”

“No,” Sage replied. “But it’s not like I can do anything with the money anyway. I still don’t even know how to count it.”

“I’ll teach you tomorrow if you’re not doing anything,” Varric said.

“Who’s up for another round?” Josephine asked. “I’m rather having fun, and this distraction is good, sometimes.”

“Here’s a bet,” Leliana said. “I’ll kiss whoever wins this next round.” She smiled at Ella as though daring her to win the hand.

“I’ll take that bet,” Ella said rather quickly.

“I’m in,” Iron Bull said. “As long as Griffon is okay with it.”

“Leliana?” Ella asked quietly, checking to be sure that Leliana was sure of what she was doing.

“I never said it would be a passionate kiss or even a kiss on the lips,” Leliana said. “I’ll let whoever wins decide the kind of kiss, but there’s no one at this table I’m not okay with kissing.”

Fluffy put her paws on Leliana’s chair and nuzzled against Leliana’s arm as though to ask, “ _even me?”_

Leliana chuckled slightly. “I’m not going to kiss you, Fluffy. You’d have to win the hand and you’re not playing.”

Fluffy whined slightly but sat back down on the floor.

“Then it’s okay with me,” Ella said.

“In that case, count me in,” Iron Bull said happily.

“Count me in too,” Dorian said. “I could always go for more kisses, even from girls.”

“What if you win, mom?” Sage asked.

“Then since you’re betting with my money, how about you kiss me, on the cheek?” Leliana suggested.

“Or,” Sage said. “Your wife could kiss you, mom.”

“Sprinkles, did you just call her mom?” Varric asked.

“Yes?” Sage said. “She’s my mom. She said I could. She said she’d adopt me if she knew how.”

“So you were telling the truth when you said you want to be Leliana’s family,” Josephine noted.

“You’d know if I were lying, mum,” Sage replied. “I’m not very good at it, according to Sera.”

“Sage,” Ella said. “I know that Leliana adopted you, or at least wants to. But can you tell me, what does that make your surname?”

“Doesn’t it make it Cousland, just like you?” Sage asked. “Leliana is mom, and she’s a Cousland because she married you. And when Sera and I get married someday that’ll make her a Cousland too, because when you marry someone you get their name. That’s like family. Or maybe it’s better than family, because you choose it.”

“You’re a loony,” Sera replied, “but you’re my loony.”

Sage smiled slightly. “Is that okay? I mean is it okay for me to have your name?”

“Yes,” Ella replied. “Because Leliana has my name, and Leliana has you. I’m not sure if I know how to be a mother, but Leliana will help me learn, I suppose.”

“You don’t have to be a mom,” Sage said. “You can be an aunt, Meiriana is my aunt, and so is Lady Josephine.”

“I am?” Josephine asked.

“If you want to,” Sage replied.

“I’d love to,” Josephine said as she began dealing out the cards.

“So, if I win, Leliana will kiss me?” Cole asked.

“Do you want to win?” Sage asked.

“Leliana kisses her birds sometimes,” Cole replied. “I don’t want to be kissed, but a hug would be okay.”

“I think the bets a kiss,” Sage said, “but you could probably ask for a hug instead if you win.”

When the bets were placed, or rather it was decided who wanted to play—everyone except Vivienne and Varric, the game began. After a bit, Sage dropped out because she didn’t want to kiss her mom, she wanted to kiss Sera.

When the hands were revealed, and Sera was declared the winner, Ella whined.

“I wanted to win. Why does she get to win?”

“Don’t be a sore loser, Ma Cherie,” Leliana said gently. “Your cards just aren’t as good as hers.”

“I think she cheated,” Ella whined.

Sera laughed. “I didn’t cheat. Why would I?”

“So you can kiss Leliana?” Sage suggested. “That’s the bet anyway.”

“I’d rather not kiss Leliana,” Sera said. “I wasn’t expecting to win.”

“But don’t you like Leliana?” Sage asked tilting her head slightly.

“Yeah, maybe as like a sister or something, but I don’t want her to kiss me. That’s weird. I have you. You could kiss me and I’d be okay with that,” Sera replied.

Leliana shrugged. “If Sera wants me to kiss someone else, I could.”

“Kiss Vivvy,” Sera said with a chuckle. “Vivvy could use like a thousand kisses.”

“Leliana, my dear, I would rather you didn’t. That’s why I didn’t play this round. I think you should kiss your wife though, she looks like she’s about ready to cry at not winning the kiss,” Vivienne said.

Leliana chuckled and leaned over the table to kiss Ella’s cheek. “More will come later,” she whispered into Ella’s ear as Ella blushed.

“Well this has been fun,” Dorian said chipperly, stretching and standing up. “But one does have other things to do.” Sage heard Iron Bull chuckle at that, but if there was a joke there, she’d missed it completely. “You should play with us more often, Sage. And you as well Madame Vivienne.”

Iron Bull got up too. “You really should join us some other time, Little. The game is more fun with you here.” Then he and Dorian left together.

Sera looked at Sage for a second then whispered, “You don’t know what just happened there, do you?”

Sage shook her head slightly. “Should I?”

“Iron Bull and Dorian are boyfriends,” Sera said.

“Oh,” Sage gasped and smiled. “That’s really nice. Good for them.”

Cole nudged Sage’s arm slight and she turned to see what he wanted. He smiled and whispered, “’You could kiss me’ was her asking you to kiss her,” then aloud he added, “Do you think we’d get in trouble for having a cat that lives in the tavern? Cats are all cute and fluffy and they go…” he imitated a cat purring then and Sage chuckled.

“I’m not sure,” Sage said. “Cats are a huge responsibility, but there are some down by the kitchens in the main building. Perhaps those would be good for you.” She turned back to Sera then and asked very quietly, “Did you actually mean that you’d be okay if I kissed you?”

Sera smiled. “Of course, Buckles. You’re my girlfriend. You can kiss me whenever you want.”

Sage considered it for a moment, then shook her head. “Not in front of people,” she whispered decidedly. “I’m… probably not a good kisser and other people would just make me more nervous.”

Sera nodded. “That’s okay, Buckles. You don’t have to kiss me right now, if you’d rather not. I don’t want you to do things for me that you don’t want to do.”

“This was fun,” Varric said. “You should play with us more often, Sprinkles.”

“You do this often?” Sage asked completely distracting herself.

“When we can,” Varric said. “Someday, I’ll set you up playing against Hawke. She’s used to playing against someone who cheats.”

Sage tilted her head. “You think I can be Hawke?” she asked incredulously. “I’m not sure, but I know I can’t beat Isabela.”

“Of course you can beat Hawke,” Varric chuckled. “Even Daisy can beat Hawke. She might not like losing to you, though. But I’m sure she’d be happy to play either way.”

Sage grinned. “I’d love to play her someday.”

“I thought you would,” Varric said. “I think it’s about time we called it a night, though. Right, Ruffles?” He gave a discreet nod toward Leliana and Ella who were looking at each other like they were the whole world in that moment.

“It’s not night?” Cole said.

“It’s just an expression, kid,” Varric replied. “Besides, it will be soon.”

“I do have some things left to finish,” Josephine said. “This was incredibly fun, though. You really must play with us again, Sage, and you as well, Madame Vivienne.”

“Perhaps I will, my dear,” Vivienne replied.

She and Josephine and Varric all stood up then. As they started to leave Vivienne stopped by Sage’s chair and leaned down, whispering to her, “You picked an excellent mother. Do try to stay strong and so sure of yourself, my dear. It will serve you well.”

Sage smiled.

“Come on, kid,” Varric said to Cole. “Let’s give them space.”

“Okay,” Cole said. He smiled at Sage too as he stood up. “Thank you for letting me join you.”

After they were all gone, and only Sage and Sera and Leliana with her wives (and their dogs) remained at the table, Sera smiled at Sage.

“What now, Buckles?” she asked. “It’s just you and me, and them.”

“Well,” Sage said. “I think they need to get a room.”

“You don’t even know what that means,” Sera said with a small laugh.

“Leliana looks like she wants to do more than _just_ kiss Ella. Unless she wants to do something about that here in the tavern, and if she does I _don’t_ want to be here for it, then she and Ella need to get a room.”

Leliana blushed hotly at hearing that.

“Ha, Buckles look you made her red,” Sera chuckled.

Sage grinned and nodded. “I can make you red too.”

“How’s that?” Sera asked.

Sage leaned over slightly, putting one hand on Sera’s shoulder and very quietly said, “May I kiss you?”

Sera blushed and nodded. “Of course.”

Sage then leaned up and very gently placed a kiss upon her lips. She didn’t go any further than that though, but she was a little surprised when Sera hugged her gently and kissed back. When she pulled away, she chuckled. “You’re pretty red now.”

Sera chuckled too. "So are you."


End file.
